"My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest." - Isaiah 32:18

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Winter Vignettes


Winter is the time for being home.

Jane Austen said, "There is nothing like staying Home for real comfort."

I think she's right!

When it looks like this outside, there's no other place I'd rather be...



                                 

               Why not put together some cozy vignettes to make being home extra enjoyable? 

           Once the Christmas decor is packed away there are still several months before spring.

 I've wondered in the past, how do I decorate for winter without it looking Christmasy or spring-like?




                                

                                          I'll show you my dining room table vignette.

               For a winter vignette, I like to use materials that are warm, rich, and visually "heavy".

                                I started with a blue wool scarf that I used as a runner.

                 My mother-in-law brought this scarf home to me from a trip she took to Ireland 
                                              when my husband and I were dating.

   

                                 

                 The turkey feathers, deer antlers, and pine sprigs have been collected from 
                                               our property during family nature walks. 

             The garland reminds me of ice, so I've deemed it perfect for this winter vignette.

                                 
                                 





    

                                        Another place I'll show you is in my living room.

                                                 I chose white orchids for in here...

                                

                                                  They're $10 at Walmart right now. 


                                 

                                     In my opinion, white orchids can be used year-round.

                                                
                                                       

                                    

                                                 My living room "dressed" for winter.

   (There's a reason why I've kept you in only this living room and the dining room.... The rest of the     
                                                house is trashed with toys.... Sigh....)

                                              Thanks for letting me show you around.

                                                        Happy Winter decorating!!!

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Feels like Home

What feels like home to you?

Maybe a crackling fire on a cold day?

~~~~~~~~~~

Or a stack of books next to your bed?

~~~~~~~~~~

Whenever I need to make a decision for my home, I've always asked myself the same question through the years:

Does it feel like home?



       


 I don't ever ask myself, "Is it trendy or in style?" or, "Will my friends like it when they come over?"

                                                                  No, no, no.....
                               
                                   Let's never ask ourselves those questions, instead ask:


                                                            Does it feel like home?

                                         I will give you an example from my own home....
 
                                                     This is my beloved hallway clock:



                                   

     When I was a child, I would visit my great-aunt Bev, and sometimes spend weekends with her in the summertime. Her home is still etched on my heart. Her dining room was wallpapered in cabbage roses, the bedrooms had a story book feel, and in her living room stood a beautiful grandmother clock.
     I can remember playing out in her garden and hearing the clock chime through the screens of her opened windows. It's a fond memory of my care-free childhood. That's why, when we moved into our farmhouse, I wanted to find a clock that would etch "home" on my children's hearts, the same as Aunt Bev's clock did for me.
     I found this clock at a consignment shop in town. I painted it "Pewter Vase". It's a soft bluish-grey. It strikes out the hours each hour, followed by the Westminster chime. When I'm sitting on my front porch swing in the summer I can hear it through the screen door. When my children play in their sandbox or run around the front and side porches, they can hear it through the opened windows.

                                                               I absolutely love it! 

                             I don't care that it isn't modern or trendy... It feels like Home!


     

                                  

     Let's always be mindful of the fact that the sights, sounds, and smells that we as homemakers put into our homes are what will feel like home to our children when they grow up. It's our job to make sure that what they recall from their childhood home is beautiful, loving, and happy.

                                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                                               A row of hand-painted tea cups on a shelf.....

                                                   A singing tea kettle on the stove top.....

                                                          What feels like Home to you?

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

My Salvation Testimony

I have visited many blogs over the years.
Many bloggers profess to be Christians in their "About Me" introduction however, it's been my observation, as I dive into their posts, that they never mention anymore about it.
I never get to read about what God is doing in their life or even how they came to be a Christian.
While I don't expect that every post I write will be about my faith, it seemed to me that the best way for me to start is by sharing with you my testimony.
I LOVE listening to others tell how they came to know the Lord!
Don't you?

**********************




I snapped this picture of my kitchen this morning, which reminds me, I'd like to insert a short disclaimer here. I am very much unqualified to author a blog. I like to snap pictures of my home and family but I'm not a photographer, so you will probably never see a high-quality looking photo from me. Also, I like to decorate my home but I'm not a designer. And while I'm at it, I homeschool my children, but my oldest is only in first grade. I haven't been doing it long enough to advise anyone on the matter. Basically, I'm not an expert on anything. I just feel passionate about wanting to live a beautiful, well-rounded life, and thought it'd be fun to record my progress and share it with you! 
  Whew! Now that I've thrown that out there, (and you know what NOT to expect) let's continue.....


                                                          *********************************


     I got saved on September 9th, 2001. Yes, just two days before the September 11 attacks, although that really has nothing to do with this. I was 18 years-old and had spent my life up to that point in a very loving and stable Christian home. 
     I am very thankful for my upbringing. My parents loved the Lord and brought my brothers and I to church regularly. I learned all the songs, all the bible stories, all the scripture verses. I knew how to "play church". I was a good kid.... on the outside. 
     While I think I had a pretty idealistic childhood, and it was absolutely the right thing for my parents to do, the danger in this is for children to grow up thinking they're saved, but they're not. That's what happened to me.
 
  {{{ "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of Heaven...." Matt. 7:21 }}}

     The Lord was watching all this, of course, and on that Sunday morning in September decided to swoop in and rescue me. 
     


     By the way, this is what we woke up to this morning! Pure winter bliss! This is the view from one of the family room windows.

                                                           ********************************

     That Sunday morning started out like every other Sunday morning in my life. I simply woke up, got dressed, and went to church. I really had no idea that I was entering the church house, hell-bound, but on my way to meet The Savior.
     The Pastor preached a message that morning on the Parable of the wheat and the weeds. (Matthew 13) The only way I know how to describe what happened next was I felt like the Pastor was talking to only me, and the doors to my heart swung open and I knew I needed to get things right with the Lord! I had a "good" life and was a "good" person, but the Lord opened my eyes that even though I was a "good" person, I still had a wicked, black heart!

                {{{ "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked...." Jeremiah 17:9 }}}
                     {{{ "There is no one righteous, not even one..." Romans 3:10 }}}
                        {{{ "...All of our good deeds are like filthy rags." Isaiah 64:6 }}

     I walked up to the alter and got on my knees. God granted me repentance. I accepted His gift and invited Him in. In one prayer, in one moment, I was Born-Again!

{{{ "Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.' " 
                                                                                                                         John 3:3 }}}
{{{ "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 
                                                                                                                   2 Corinthians 5:17 }}}

                                                ~ ~ ~  I had a new, fresh start! ~ ~ ~

     What about you? Do you have the assurance of salvation? Or is there an unsettling in your heart as you read this? I don't believe you are reading this by accident or chance. God's invitation is open to you, too! Why not right now? God sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross for your sins. Today is the Day of Salvation!

        {{{ "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2 }}}

{{{ "For God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17 }}}
     
{{{ "Jesus answered, 'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' " John 14:6 }}}




     


Me with my family this past Easter Sunday morning, on our way into church.

{{{ "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,'  and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9-10 }}}

     I'll tell you one last thing.... That same Sunday morning I was saved, September 9th, 2001, was the same morning, the same service, the same invitation from God, that my husband got saved as well! This was several years before we started dating. I have always found this to be such a wonderfully unique part of our story!
     That's all for tonight. I look forward to sharing more of my life with you.....


                                                                   ~ Courtney

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Welcome to my blog!
I am a born-again Christian, wife, and homeschool mother.
I live with my husband and children in a 100-year old farmhouse out in the country.
My goal for this blog is to record family information and stories, log our home renovations, and maybe even write an article every once in a while.
This blog is open to the public in the hopes that I can share all this with you!
Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome!